Verbs That Take the Illative
Ta armus naabrisse means she fell in love with the neighbor. Word for word, she fell in love into the neighbor.
How It Works
The illative (-sse) usually means into. With some verbs, a feeling, belief or attention goes into something:
- uskuma – believe in: Ma usun sinusse.
- armuma – fall in love with: Ta armus naabrisse.
- kiinduma – grow attached to: Laps on koerasse väga kiindunud.
- suhtuma – feel about, have an attitude toward: Kuidas sa sellesse suhtud?
- süvenema – get absorbed in: Ta süvenes raamatusse.
- sekkuma – interfere in, join in: Ära sekku teiste asjadesse.
- haigestuma – fall ill with: Ta haigestus grippi.
Pronouns use the long illative: minusse, sinusse, temasse, sellesse. Nouns that have a short illative can use it: grippi.
Uskuma with two cases. Uskuma with the partitive means to believe that someone is telling the truth: Ma usun sind. (I believe you.) Uskuma with the illative means to have faith in someone, or to believe that something exists: Ma usun sinusse. (I believe in you.) Kas sa usud imedesse? (Do you believe in miracles?)
English often uses with or about where Estonian uses the illative, so learn each verb together with its case.
Examples (6)
- Ma usun sinusse.
I believe in you.
Word by Word: I believe you-into
- Ta armus esimesest silmapilgust naabrisse.
She fell in love with the neighbor at first sight.
- Kuidas sa sellesse suhtud?
How do you feel about that?
- Ta süvenes raamatusse ega kuulnud midagi.
He got absorbed in the book and did not hear anything.
- Kas sa usud imedesse?
Do you believe in miracles?
Believing that something exists takes the illative.
- Pool klassi haigestus grippi.
Half the class came down with the flu.
Grippi is the short illative of gripp.
Common Mistakes
Using -ga because English says with.
Ta armus naabriga.Ta armus naabrisse.Armuma always takes the illative. The person you fall in love with goes in the -sse form.
Using the allative with suhtuma.
Kuidas sa sellele suhtud?Kuidas sa sellesse suhtud?Suhtuma takes the illative: suhtun sellesse hästi.
Using the illative when you mean that someone is telling the truth.
Ma usun sinusse, sa räägid tõtt.Ma usun sind, sa räägid tõtt.To believe what a person says, use the partitive: usun sind. Usun sinusse means you have faith in the person.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Some verbs take the illative.
Related Patterns
- Short Illative
Some nouns use a short illative here too: haigestus grippi.
Level 2 - Verbs That Take -ga
Another group of verbs with a fixed case: harjuma, kohtuma, nõustuma.
Level 4 - Verbs That Take the Elative
Verbs like huvituma and sõltuma take the elative.
Level 3 - Verbs That Take the Inessive
Verbs like kahtlema and seisnema take the inessive.
Level 5 - Verbs That Change Meaning with Case
Uskuma is one of the verbs whose meaning changes with its case.
Level 5
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice Verbs That Take the Illative in Bubblegum
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